


Kings Dethroned

by IudexInfernalis



Series: Paradise Rejected [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-29 04:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14465148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IudexInfernalis/pseuds/IudexInfernalis
Summary: Five years after Dean fell into the cage with Lucifer Sam and the others are close to freeing them. Will they make it? And has Dean changed during his time in the cage?Sequel to Paradise Rejected





	1. Breakthrough

**Author's Note:**

> Well, since I dont know yet which of the possible ways to go with Archetype I thought I might start with the Sequel for Paradise Rejected a bit early. I hope you enjoy it!

„Are you ready for your first ritual?“  
“Yes.”  
“Then let us begin.”  
The eight men in the black robes stood around the ninth man who was wearing a red one. The room was unlit except for the candles that were strewn all about the room. Latin chanting began to sound through the room. It were praises of the dark, evil Lord Lucifer. The devil as the bringer of chaos and destruction. Then they changed back to english.  
“Lucifer, you destroyer, you father of evil, hear our prayer. We wish to rule this world through your evil force and…”  
“Do not talk about him like that!”  
“Moloch!”  
All nine men startled nearly hard enough to jump out of their robes. The leader of the men ran straight for the light switch and turned on the light.  
“Who’s there?”  
Directly in front of the door to the basement were two men, one of them exceptionally tall. They were glaring at each other and then looked at the group of people.   
“Ah, uh, we’re…”  
“We have come here because you have something that might help us free Lucifer.”  
“I thought we agreed that we don’t tell them.”  
“Sam, they are Satanists. Don’t you think that they would be quite happy to help?”  
“Didn’t you just shout at them like they’re insulting Lucifer?”  
“They were insulting him!”  
“And you still want to just ask them for help?”  
“Stop it! I want to know what’s going on!”  
The leader of the men in robes pulled off his hood.   
“You break in, interrupt our ritual, and now you’re talking about freeing Lucifer. You better talk right now or I’m calling the police.”  
Sam sighed deeply. He had hoped that the satanic nutcases would be too deep into their ritual to notice them but Moloch just had to feel insulted over their ‘prayer’.  
“Look, I’m Sam, this is Moloch. He’s a fallen angel. We’re trying to break Lucifer out of his cage.”  
Murmurs ran through the room between the robed men who suddenly seemed not so confident in their devil worship anymore. Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They worshipped a being they saw as completely evil. Why did they expect to get anything out of it in the first place?  
“A fallen angel? No way I’m going to believe that.”  
“Moloch, please, would you?”  
“I will not oblige the will of those that mock Lucifer like that.”  
“Dude, that’s what they heard. It’s not like there’s a side on the internet informing them how it really went down.”  
“I still do not like them.”  
“Then do it for me, please.”  
Sam didn’t want to spend any longer than necessary here. It was creepy and pathetic at the same time because now with the light there way day to day items all around the room. Moloch sighed and raised his hand, letting wind pick up and knock the DIY Satanists on their asses.  
“Thanks, that should be enough.”  
In a single moment Moloch suddenly had eight grown men on their knees in front of him and Sam was one moment away from saying fuck it and leaving but it had taken them five years to finally get a hint on a way to open the cage. He wanted to go through with it now and finally get his brother back.   
“Oh please, great Moloch, bless us. We are your humble evil servants.”  
The fallen angel looked at them, completely unimpressed.  
“What are you talking about? I am not evil.”  
Sam nearly laughed because that because the expression Moloch was wearing was something Dean would without a doubt describe as a perfect bitchface. In moments like these he thought about how desperately he missed his brother.   
“Okay, now show us where you have the book.”  
The men didn’t react until Moloch repeated what Sam said. Then suddenly they all got up, apparently having no doubt what kind of book they wanted to have.   
“Humans are strange.”  
“Definitely.”  
“I like you though.”  
“Thanks, man. Same here.”  
It had taken long for Sam to trust the fallen angels when they came to him and offered to help find out how they would get Lucifer and Dean back. Cas had worked hard to convince him, just like the others. For the first few months he had sent them away, determined on finding it out on his own. With Bobby’s help, of course.  
Over half a year passed until he had finally admitted that he needed the help. At first he had only grudgingly agreed to work with the fallen angels but after a while they really grew on him and Sam realized what Dean had seen in them from the beginning.   
The scene was bizarre as the leader walked in with the book they needed and the others behind him in pairs like some kind of deranged ducklings.   
“Here it is, Lord Moloch.”  
It was so obvious how uncomfortable Moloch was with the attention and the way these people acted and it made Sam quite relieved actually. The fallen angels were often depicted as completely power hungry but Moloch had such a grounded personality. Only when there was mention of Belial did he show just how much emotions were behind his calm exterior. Sam completely understood that it was still hard sometimes, even after five years.   
Moloch took the book and thanked them. Not even a moment later they were gone from that house. Back at the HQ of the fallen angels Sam got to see the grimace on Moloch’s face.   
Mammon approached him.  
“Hey, big warrior, you look like you bit into multiple lemons.”  
Sam chuckled.  
“He had a run in with crazy Satanists.”  
Moloch glared at Mammon because he had started laughing before Sam had completed the sentence.   
“What do you humans call that again? Cranky?”  
“Close. I think you mean cringy.”  
“Yes, that one.”  
“It totally was. If we hadn’t fled they probably would’ve tried kissing Moloch’s feet.”  
Moloch’s grimace became bigger and Mammon laughed even harder.   
“Poor Molly.”  
“If you call me that one more time I swear I will personally tie you to a pole while I throw away all your collections.”  
“Do not dare touch my collections!”  
“I see the mission was successful.”  
Beelzebub tried to look neutral but Sam could clearly see how amused he was at the banter. Sam grinned.  
“It was. Moloch might never come with me again but we have it.”  
He held up the book with an excited expression. It was time. He couldn’t wait to see Dean again. It had been far too long. He had to apologize, he could explain everything. Dean would be so happy that he had made friends with the fallen angels. Maybe after he saw that Dean was back and okay he would be able to forgive himself for how he had betrayed his brother.  
“I cannot read it.”  
“What?”  
That was perplexing. Beelzebub was an angel, though a fallen one, but he should be able to know every language. From the time Sam spent with them he was sure that Beelzebub was the smartest of the fallen angels, maybe except Lucifer but Sam hadn’t had the chance to get to know him.   
“I said that-“  
“I know what you said but how’s that possible?”  
“It seems to be some kind of code.”  
So much for getting them out immediately. They now had to decipher a whole book to find the right passage and then they would have to get every and that could take days.   
“We’re coming closer though, right?”  
“I promise, Sam. We will get them soon. This is the Book of the Damned, after all.”


	2. Help

„Found anything yet, Bobby?“  
„No, and I’m still not happy about you working with them.”  
Sam sighed. He’d taken a long time to trust the fallen angels but Bobby still suspected them of having hidden plans. It was so typical for Bobby to be suspicious even when it was completely unlikely than anything would happen now. He didn’t fault him for it though, especially since Dean was in the cage because of it. Not directly but still. They had to get over this shit though. Fact was that they wouldn’t be able to find anything without the fallen angels.   
“Look, I’m not gonna try and convince you but we’re doing this for Dean. This isn’t about being in the right or in the wrong, it’s about bringing Dean back.”  
“You’re right. I just find it hard to trust them.”  
“I get it, Bobby. You don’t have to ever get in contact with them again after this. They’re Dean’s friends, after all.”  
Well, not only Dean’s friends. After all, Sam had become friends with them too. He didn’t want to explicitly say that to Bobby though.   
“Just be careful, boy.”  
“I will, Bobby, I promise.”  
After Sam hung up he walked back to the others.  
“Bobby hasn’t got a clue either. We gotta try something else.”  
Beelzebub sighed.  
“Cas is looking for witches that might help. We would have been way faster if Molly didn’t refuse to go with him though.”  
“I swear, Beelzebub, one day I will come up with such a nickname for you!”  
Going by Beelzebub’s smirk he wasn’t surprised in the least when Moloch just walked up behind them to protest. Sam could only roll his eyes at that. Sometimes these eons old fallen angels could act like kids.   
“I would not threaten another like that if I refused to work with another.”  
“I accepted him. That does not mean that I want to be alone with him quite yet.”  
Sam left them to discuss it while he got out his laptop and continued his research. Somewhere there had to be a way to break the code or even get a clue about how to break the code. He couldn’t just give up because it was written in code.   
No matter how much he searched he could only find some stupid competition websites with that whole ‘only 1% of people can solve this’ thing. It was seriously annoying and the codes were stupidly easy. If someone was looking for a real challenge… wait.  
“I’ve got an idea.”  
Beelzebub was by his side as soon as he said the words. He looked over Sam’s shoulder and it seemed to click instantly when he saw the webpages that the search engine was showing.  
“Do you really think this is safe?”  
“No one would suspect that this internet ‘riddle’ is really the code to the Book of the Damned. I bet very few would even know what that is if someone told them.”  
“Then we shall try it.”  
Sam nodded and began to work. After two hours of constant working on it he had finished the website. He didn’t know how many people would look at it but they didn’t really have much of a choice in that regard. If not even angels were able to solve it then supernatural powers would do jack for this.   
It was clear that Beelzebub doubted if it would prove to be successful but at least the fallen angel knew that it was a chance at the very least.   
After staring at the website for an hour straight he closed his laptop and stood up. Maybe he should have put in a reward for solving it.   
“If you do not stop pacing right now I will tie you to your chair.”  
“Shut up, Mammon, I’m trying to think.”  
“Then stop pacing. It is irritating.”  
Apparently Mammon wasn’t happy that Beelzebub had stolen his nickname for Moloch. It was quickly gaining popularity, to Moloch’s annoyance. Not that he was really angry at the others for it. For Sam it was kind of like his own protest whenever Dean called him Sammy.   
“Dean…”  
“We all miss him, Sam.”  
“I know. It’s just that we’re so close and something as dumb as a code in a book is keeping us from freeing him and Lucifer.”  
“And you are doing everything you can to change that.”  
“That doesn’t change that we still don’t have a clue how to save them.”  
“Sam, calm down. I am completely sure that your website will be a success.”  
“You’re very optimistic, Mammon.”  
“I am not. I just trust your abilities.”  
Sometimes Sam could really understand why Dean liked the fallen angels so much. They might not be the innocence in celestial wavelength form but they cared for those they considered friends and family. Kind of like Dean and him. They were a family, they had to stand together in the face of everything the world was throwing at them.   
“Thanks. I’ll get myself something to eat.”  
Just like that he was managing a ton of orders from different fallen angels. He ended up having to write down everything. Save to say, a post-it wasn’t enough for all the orders.   
“You guys don’t have to eat!”  
“Does not mean we cannot enjoy it!”  
Sam quickly gave up trying to discuss wasting money on food that they didn’t need. He decided that he would just let the angels enjoy the food because was it really doing any harm? Okay, maybe it had more been Mammon’s puppy dog eyes (worse than Sam’s) and the continuous talking from Beelzebub who had nearly given a whole speech about the enjoyments of food and why it wasn’t solely a necessity but also a way to lift their spirits.  
That was how he ended up with the big list that the guy at the counter had to check five times until he finally had everything and another credit card that he had to throw away because it was at its limit.   
As soon as he was back the fallen angels attacked. Sam barely had the time to put the bags down when all the angels were already trying to pull out their order. One would think that he was feeding starving people but no, apparently they didn’t need to be hungry to throw themselves at the food.   
“Guys, slow down.”   
Again, childish. Sam took out his salad and his wrap, leaving the angels to get their food from the bags themselves. The bags would probably be in pieces really soon.   
It took nearly fifteen minutes until every angel had their food and over half an hour until they were all finished.   
Sam was chatting along with them when he heard a notification from his laptop. Could it be?  
“Hey Sam! I think you got a message.”  
“I think he got that, Moloch.”  
His pule was going through the roof as Sam grabbed his laptop and opened it.   
Three messages.  
The first one was useless. It was some random guy complaining that it was way too hard and couldn’t be solved.   
The second was from someone who claimed to have solved it. Sam bit his lip but he wanted to read the third one before he replied here.   
Spam. Alright then, so the second one was his only chance. He hoped that the person really did solve it and didn’t just pretend to stroke their own ego. Then again, he had to remind himself that this wasn’t as serious for the contestants as it was for Sam himself.   
“Any success?”  
“Possibly.”  
All the angels looked at Sam now.   
“Someone claims to have solved it?”  
“Yeah. I don’t have any prove that it’s true though. Not yet, at least.”  
“Did they leave a name?”  
“Yep, apparently it’s a woman. She left a name in the message. It seems like her name is Charlie Bradbury.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it took me longer than I thought to write this chapter. I made it though.
> 
> I really hope you're still enjoying reading it, even though I can't update as regularly at the moment.
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments and reading my story!


	3. Answers

It was surprisingly easy to get Charlie to agree to meet them. Sam hadn’t expected that. He had already prepared to have a neutral place to meet at some café or restaurant in public so she wouldn’t have to be worried. Instead Charlie agreed to come to their place. She was definitely very brave. San could definitely respect that. That meant he had to wait here for her though. Bobby definitely wouldn’t be happy about it. How long would it take to convince that stubborn old guy that the fallen angels weren’t as bad as they seemed? Granted, it was definitely going to be easier with Bobby than it would have been with his dad. That would have been completely impossible, especially after the whole thing with Azazel.  
Huh, he hadn’t even thought about Azazel since Dean had been thrown into the cage. His whole thoughts had been centred on freeing Dean. Everything else had moved into the background and definitely wasn’t on the list of important things anymore.   
“Moloch?”  
The fallen angel looked up from his food, his gaze painfully reminding him of Dean’s whenever he interrupted him while he was eating. Sam hated that he had so many things here that reminded him of Dean. Then again, it kind of made him like the fallen angels even more.  
“Yes?”  
“Did you ever hear about an angel called Azazel?”  
The whole room went from lively to completely silent and Sam wondered if he had said something wrong. It was just a theory he had because he had never seen a yellow eyed demon before and had never heard about it either. None of Lucifer’s friends here had yellow eyes. Sam hadn’t tested it of course but whenever there was some stand-off there were glowing red irises, no yellow eyes. Still, they had to know something. Also, shouldn’t Dean changing the timeline have changed that too? Why did Lucifer still create demons? Now that he thought about it many questions came up.   
“Yes, I-“  
“Why do you want to know about Azazel?”  
Sam could guess from the fallen angel’s reaction that they knew something. Maybe he would get some answers now. First he had to tell them about what happened though. So he began to explain. He told them the story of his family, of his mother’s death, of the fates that the other people like him faced. It was strange to have the whole room listening to him without even a single noise from his audience. Beelzebub sighed once Sam was finished and moved over, sitting down next to him.  
“Do not take what I tell you now as an excuse for what he has done but let me tell you Azazel’s story in turn.”  
For a moment Sam wanted to protest. He didn’t want to hear too much. After all, he had mostly wanted to confirm his suspicion that Azazel wasn’t a normal demon. His curiosity wouldn’t allow that though and he nodded. It would also be a nice distraction from having to way for this Charlie girl to show up.   
“Azazel was an angel. You probably already guessed that. In heaven there was nothing special about him, not in a good way and not in a bad way. He did not fight with us in the original heavenly war. After the first humans were banned from the garden Azazel tried to help them by giving them information about weapons, which indirectly led to Cain killing Abel. I say indirectly because Lucifer played into that too. Anyway, Azazel was held responsive and was cast down. No one knows if our father was too enraged or if he made a mistake but Azazel did not only fall. His grace burned away. We all heard his screams. When he reached Hell he was barely more than human, if not less. Lucifer pitied him and tried to fix him but cut off from heaven he could only do so much. So instead of restoring his grace Azazel became a demon. He was unable to cope with his fate, was driven insane by what happened. We can heal a lot, Sam, but we cannot heal that.”  
If someone would drop a pin in that moment, it would echo through the whole room. Not one of the fallen angels made a sound. Sam found to his own horror that he might be feeling a tiny bit of sympathy for Azazel, just a bit. Beelzebub was right, it didn’t excuse anything but it gave many explanations for questions Sam had. The burning of his grace, the burning of his victims, the search for a kind of family, the obsession with bringing Lucifer back, who tried to put him back together. Maybe he had even hoped that Lucifer would be able to really fix him once he defeated Michael.   
“It’s not a coincidence that Azazel is associated with the term scapegoat, right?”  
“Right. Azazel took more of father’s anger than Cain could even imagine. Most of the blame was put on him, not on the one who committed the crime.”  
Sam was silent again. He still had to think about it. After all those years hating the yellow eyed demon with a passion he was now at a loss for what he should even say. Thankfully he didn’t need to say anything because the rest of the fallen angels were just as uncomfortable with the topic as him. They all went back to their food or activities. Sam was deep in thought when he was suddenly startled by Mammon cheering loudly.   
“What’s up?”  
“I did it! I won the auction! I have a new book for my collection!”  
That finally brought the mood up again. Mammon’s joy was contagious and they all laughed. Sam had seen Mammon go after many books since they had started researching together and he was pretty sure that Mammon would try to get the Book of the Damned for his collection too after they had freed Lucifer and Dean.   
“You didn’t steal one of my fake credit cards to order it, right?”  
Just like that Mammon went deaf, or at least he pretended because he chatted with Beelzebub like he had not heard anything. Sam took that as a confirmation.  
“Oh come on! I already had to throw one away because you couldn’t hold back from that first edition of Frankenstein.”  
Mammon just grinned at him and Sam sighed in exasperation. He would make sure to lock his fake credit cards in angel proof lockers from now on. Before he could continue to complain further though, there was a knock on the door. Sam walked to the door and opened it. In front of the door stood a red-headed girl that looked like she came straight from college.   
“Are you Charlie?”  
“Yep! So you put out that riddle? I have to say, it was pretty dang hard but I’ll show you the solution. Then you’ll explain to me what kind of shit you’re doing with this.”  
Sam actually chuckled at that. He let her inside and of course it didn’t take more than a moment before she was surrounded by fallen angels.   
“I’m going to introduce us. I’m Sam, these guys are Beelzebub, Cas, Mammon, Moloch and the rest.”  
“You guys got some strange names.”  
The fallen angels were laughing at that.   
“Now, Charlie, let’s get to the code. We’ve been waiting for that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does that still count as being updates once a month?  
> I'm so sorry that I hadn't been able to update but I finally made it. (College is a bitch)
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos left in the meantime! Especially for all the praise. You're making me blush!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter!


	4. Step Forward

Charlie, as it turned out, quickly made the list of the fallen angels‘ favourite humans. Sam wasn’t surprised about that at all. She could have just left after they had worked through her decryption together but she had decided to take the invitation from them to stay. Of course no one told Charlie that she was talking to fallen angels, just to be sure. Sam had some suspicion that she wouldn’t care that much, she didn’t seem like the type for prejudices. It was just that he didn’t want another one involved in this. The whole thing was exhausting enough already.   
“Woah, awesome!”  
Sam chuckled at Charlie’s expression when Mammon showed her his book collection. She looked like these first editions of famous books were the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Then again, Mammon almost looked even happier than Charlie. He obviously appreciated Charlie’s reaction.   
“It makes sense.”  
“Beelzebub, I thought Dean taught you guys to keep away from our thoughts.”  
“As if I would need to read your thoughts for that. Your look says it all.”  
“Alright, alright. I know what you mean though. Must’ve been hard for him.”  
“It was. Imagine a child collecting seashells from the shore, only to be punished for taking it away from others and being called greedy.”  
Sam shook his head. He didn’t even want to imagine that. Watching how happy Mammon was he could imagine the hurt when he got punished for doing something he loved and how that hurt turned into anger. All this time he thought he was the more understanding one but it was Dean who saw beyond the stories that heaven wrote. Now they were close to freeing Dean and Lucifer and he could proudly tell Dean that he had been there to protect his friends, that he had learned from it.   
“Have you not bored Charlie enough, Mammon?”  
Moloch’s teasing only got a laugh out of the other angel.   
“Aw, Molly, jealous because I get all the attention from the beautiful lady?”  
“Use that nickname again and I will make you eat that book.”  
“Don’t go all revelations on me, Molly.”  
Just like that they had two fallen angel’s running through the house, clearly not being serious since they moved at human speed. Charlie was leaning against the doorframe, trying hard to catch her breath from laughing so hard.   
“Isn’t it kind of strange for fallen angels to be that adorable?”  
Sam flinched and gave her a wide eyed look.   
“How the fuck-“  
“Sam, I’m smart enough to crack that code and you don’t think I found out what it’s from? From there it’s really a small step to fallen angels.”  
“And you’re not afraid?”  
“I was pretty damn nervous about meeting you all but look at these two dorks.”  
She pointed at Moloch and Mammon, who were still running around with grins on their faces.   
“So is Sam short for Samael? Are you a fallen angel too?”  
“Nope, I’m human. I’m just friends with these dorks.”  
“How do you even meet fallen angels? I don’t think there’s some kind infernal Facebook.”  
“You wouldn’t believe me.”  
“Try me.”  
Sam couldn’t believe that girl. She was definitely younger than him but she had absolutely no problem dealing with fallen angels. Then again, they didn’t really seem threatening outside of battle. There wasn’t one fallen angel in this building that Sam could honestly say that he was even nervous about.   
“I met them through my brother.”  
“Your brother knows fallen angels… How?”  
“Long story with involuntary time travel and romance.”  
“Romance? Seriously?”  
“I was just as surprised. Dean, my brother, is apparently Lucifer’s boyfriend.”  
For a moment Charlie looked at him like he had escaped an asylum and was still wrapped in a straight jacket. Then she seemed to realize that he was serious and shook her head.  
“This is crazy.”  
It really was. He would’ve never thought that something like this could happen. At least the last five years had given him tie to wrap his head around it. Charlie was still at the beginning and probably needed a lot more time too before she would be able to deal with it completely.   
“Strange, that was exactly what I told Lucifer when he suggested the rebellion.”  
Sam turned to Beelzebub, having momentarily forgotten that the fallen was still standing next to him because of his conversation with Charlie. She seemed more interested in Beelzebub now anyway, so they could finish his and Dean’s story afterwards.   
“And what did Lucifer say?”  
“He looked at me with that bright grin on his face, one I have only ever seen on him and Dean-“  
Seeing Beelzebub talk about Lucifer made Sam think of himself when he talked about Dean. That very same mix of admiration, exasperation, and the pretty solid impression that his brother was a complete nutcase. He could actually picture the grin Beelzebub was describing.  
“And he told me: ‘Well, brother, is insanity not a kind of freedom?’ I did not know if I wanted to punch him or follow him. I did both.”  
Both Sam and Charlie chuckled at that.   
“I swear, it’s like you’re talking about a millennia old version of Dean.”  
“Believe me, Sam, it did not take long until we saw the similarities.”  
That was something Sam could believe easily. No wonder Dean and Lucifer got along so perfectly. Of course they weren’t completely the same but it was the important aspects of them that just seemed to fit perfectly together.   
“By the way, did you get anything useful out of the decoded book?”  
“Yes. I think we will be able to break open the cage soon.”  
“How soon?”  
“We should not hurry too much. If we make one mistake we might have a bigger problem than opening the cage.”  
Sam and Charlie looked at each other and back to Beelzebub, obviously wanting him to elaborate on that.   
“The cage has a failsafe. If we do not make sure the ritual to open it is done properly then it activates and both Dean and Lucifer will be…”  
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Heaven did not do half assed failsaves. They would make sure that it was done properly or not at all. It wasn’t making things easier but that probably wasn’t the intention behind the failsafe.   
“Then what are we waiting for? We’ve got a ritual to prepare and two idiots in love to free. Let’s fight for true love.”  
Now Charlie was the one being stared at. At least both Sam and Beelzebub were grinning. Sam had the sneaking suspicion that it had been her intention to lighten the mood. It definitely worked.   
“She’s right. Let’s get our shit together and do this. Let’s give the list of ingredients to Cas. He’s gonna be able to find them.”  
“Cas? He doesn’t sound like a fallen angel.”  
“His full name is Castiel. Cas is a nickname, like Molly.”  
The glare he received for that was so totally worth it. Mammon laughed and moved closer.   
“I will go with Cas. He is so adorably naïve.”  
“I heard that.”  
“It was not a lie, so why protest?”  
Sam was sure that he hadn’t seen Castiel smile like that in a while. All of them were pretty excited to finally get both Dean and Lucifer back.   
“You see, Charlie, Cassie here is new to the Fallen. He is still incredibly honoured. We are a very exclusive club.”  
“Mammon, I swear… Beelzebub, can’t I go with you?”  
“Not a chance, Cas. I have to read up further on the ritual.”  
Cas was clearly resigned when Beelzebub said that but he was clearly not as opposed to it as he had pretended to be. Sam couldn’t help but think that Dean was going to be delighted to see that Cas had gained a sense of humour since he joined the fallen angels.  
“There is something else.”  
Everyone fell silent and looked at Beelzebub again, who was holding the book of the damned now, decoding sticking out of it in post-it notes.  
“The ritual has to be done in front of the cage. In Hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, those were two chapters of fallen angel backstory but I don't regret a thing. Besides, it seems that I'm not the only one who likes the fallen angels.
> 
> Anyway, we're getting close to the opening of the cage.
> 
> As always, thanks for the kudos and the comments and simply reading. I appreciate it!


	5. Hunter and Hunted

„It just can’t be easy, can it? So not only are we going to get ingredients from who knows where but we also need to get into Hell and in front of the cage. Great.”  
Sam sat down and sighed. Of course it would defy the cage’s purpose if it was easy but did it have to be that hard? They probably would already have to deal with heaven trying to stop them, now they also had to face the few rebellious demons that existed.  
Beelzebub didn’t seem happy either. Probably because all the fallen angels had avoided going to Hell ever since they had been released from their seals, not wanting to see what had become of Hell. The only thing they knew was that they wouldn’t recognize the realm as the one they had made a home out of.   
“Guys, I think we should all try to gather ingredients and get this over with as fast as possible while not drawing much attention.”  
“Charlie is right. Molly, take Mammon with you.”  
“I hate you.”  
“Cas, you take Sam.”  
“Alright.”  
“I will drive Char-“  
“No!”  
Sam, Cas, Mammon, and Moloch all shouted it at the same time. Beelzebub loved driving, they all knew it, but he also hated speed limits. Each of them had sat on the passenger seat once and Sam had wished himself back to the past when Dean had been late to the meeting spot where they would see dad because even that had felt less like he would die any moment.  
“Charlie, you really don’t want to drive with Beelzebub. Not a good idea.”  
The fallen angel seemed to be pouting at the accusations.   
“I am an excellent driver.”  
“You drove through a town with 160mph!”  
“And no one got hurt.”  
Charlie laughed at that.   
“What kind of car does he have that can go 160mph?”  
Sam sighed and leaned against the wall.  
“He got himself a Lamborghini.”  
“I’m driving with Beelzebub.”  
All the fallen angels were looking at Charlie like she had lost her mind. Or maybe she wanted to have a heart attack. Beelzebub looked really pleased that Charlie decided to drive with him. He seemed far too eager to have someone who wanted to drive with him again.   
“If you kill her I swear I’ll pull out your feathers one by one.”  
“Oh, Sam, I would never hurt her or my precious car.”  
“If you start calling your car ‘her’ or ‘baby’ I’ll leave.”  
They were laughing again. The fallen angels and Sam more than Charlie because they all knew who Sam was referring to. It was so much easier now to joke about Dean when they were so close to freeing him.   
“You can leave when I start calling you Sammy.”  
Sam flipped Beelzebub off and went up to Cas. Beelzebub divided the ingredients between them. They all were ready to free their friends. It had taken them five years that had felt like centuries but now they would finally manage to get them.   
“Don’t take it too far, Beelzebub.”   
Despite the threat Sam was grinning. As much as he disliked it when others than Dean used it he didn’t actually mind that much. It was far funnier to tease Moloch with his nickname though.   
“Is your Lambo a cabriolet?”  
“Of course. My Gallardo Spyder will take us wherever we need to go in no time.”  
“You’re a damn show off, you know that?”  
“Everyone here knows that, Charlie.”  
That was something everyone could agree on. Beelzebub was so proud of his car that it could rival Dean with his baby. He was also the one of the fallen angels who had so seamlessly integrated into modern times that it almost frightened Sam. Mammon was still ordering books from Sam’s fake credit card while Beelzebub had a job that paid well enough for him to be able to buy a fucking sportscar and enough free time to manage the fallen angels. Sam could see why he was Lucifer’s second in command.   
“Then let’s go.”  
Sam watched Charlie go with Beelzebub, grinning like she had won the lottery. He really hoped that Charlie wouldn’t try anything with Beelzebub. Dean had it hard enough in a relationship with a fallen angel – him sitting in a cage with his boyfriend was proof for that – he didn’t need the next one who had those problems. Especially since Beelzebub really was a quite attractive guy, Sam had to admit that. With that thought he turned to Cas and they were on their way.   
Charlie really had no idea what she had gotten herself into. She went with Beelzebub and got in the stylish black car. At first he had fully expected the others to be exaggerating but no, Beelzebub really had no regards for the speed limits at all. While there was the potential for him to crash, no matter what he said, she found it incredibly exciting. Beelzebub’s music taste apparently was all over the place but there was honestly little that didn’t sound amazing in a cabriolet sportscar. They could be hearing freaking Beethoven and it would sound epic.   
“Woohoo! That’s so awesome! Where are we even going?”  
“To the south. Our two ingredients are in Mexico.”  
That was something Charlie could live with. A tour in such a car would be awesome. And as it turned out, Beelzebub might be perfectly composed when he was planning and managing the angels, he could let loose too. They were singing along in the car and Charlie was sure that if Beelzebub wasn’t a guy she’d be developing a serious crush. They were in the middle of singing along to Sweet Home Alabama when suddenly someone appeared in front of the car. Beelzebub swerved and Charlie shouted. Thankfully supernatural reflexes helped avoiding the figure. Beelzebub pulled over and got out.  
“What do you think you are doing?”  
The person turned around and Beelzebub immediately recognized them as an angel. Vessel was female but the angel showed signs of his initial vessel having been male. Why had their father even had the awful idea to destroy the vessels of the angels that remained in heaven? It was something he would never understand.   
“Is the question not what you are doing, Beelzebub? You and your order of abominations had a chance at the final war and you throw it away?”  
Charlie was sitting in the car, feeling scared. This was an angel and Beelzebub definitely didn’t seem happy to see her. Whoever this angel was. It was such a tense situation.   
“We do not want this world to end. We have seen that this world is better than heaven even. Maybe not as perfect as heaven but far better.”  
“That makes no sense.”  
“That it makes no sense to you tells me that you never had any interest in this world. Not really.”  
In the car Charlie flinched as the angels began to fight. She would have helped Beelzebub but in this situation she was pretty sure that there was little she could do but watch as swords met and the clanging sounds echoed through the air. They had had such a good start and now this angel just had to ruin it.   
Hopefully the others were doing better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know it has been far too long but at least I am still holding up the one chapter per month goal that I made for myself :D
> 
> I'm sorry that I'm making you wait for so long currently. It has been stressful. 
> 
> Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed this chaper!


	6. Heartbreak

While Beelzebub was fighting the fallen angel Sam and Cas were driving in the opposite direction. Cas was silent for a long time, even though Sam tried to talk to him.   
“Something wrong? Having doubts about what were doing?”  
Maybe he could guess what Cas was thinking about. There had to be a way to get Cas to talk.   
“No. I am just concernced about the ritual. It must be done with the utmost care because the failsafe surely is designed to snap at the smallest mistake.”  
Sam nodded. He had the exact same thought. The ritual was nothing that any of them had ever done before yet they would all have to perform it together and manage perfect timing. One mistake could be the end. If they came that far only for Sam to see his brother die in front of him he didn’t know how he would be able to deal with that.  
“Let’s just focus on getting the ingrdients first and then we can worry about performing the ritual.”  
“That would be the next problem. The ingredients are rare and we would have to search for them. It will take time.”  
“Our two ingredients are things hunters would find. I think we should go and meet Ellen or Jo. They still have lots of contacts with other hunters.”  
Contacts that Sam lost as soon as word got around that Dean was not only close to fallen angels but especially close to the devil himself. He wasn’t angry at Dean for it but right now they would have been incredibly useful because he had the feeling neither Ellen nor Jo would be glad to help them.  
“Did they not cut off contact after you decided to join forces with us?”  
“It’s still worth a try.”  
It was also the best idea Sam had. He didn’t know how else they would get to the ingredients without weeks of driving and looking for a hunt. Bobby wouldn’t help with that because he was basically hunter central and if they stopped trusting him the whole hunter network would break in. Even if Bobby decided that he would help Sam wouldn’t ask him for that exact reason. Hunters needed a network of some sort and Bobby was essential for that.   
“I hope we will be successful in persuading them to help us.”  
“Me too, Cas.”  
They ended up at the place the Harvelled had now after the Roadhouse had burned down. Sam made a point of leaving his weapons in the car. Cas told him that he didn’t think it was a good idea but Sam was sure that his chances were better without weapons.  
He knocked on the door and found it unlocked, instantly having alarm bells ringing. With a short glance behind himself to make sure that Cas was still there by his side Sam stepped inside and looked around. The room seemed completely empty. Something was very and seriously wrong here.   
“Traitor!”   
At the same time as the word was shouted Sam saw someone coming at him, dodging it by an inch at the most. He spotted the assailant and it was none other than Jo.   
“I’m no traitor and I’m not here to hurt anyone.”  
“Tell that to your friends in Hell when I send you there!”  
“Joanna, please remain calm. We are asking for help.”  
The sentence got Cas a metal pipe to the head and even though it couldn’t have hurt Cas stumbled a bit. Sam guessed it must have been his surprise at the attack.   
“I’m never going to help you. You’re satan’s little fanclub.”  
“Come on, we’ve done nothing bad.”  
“You know, except helping the devil and wanting to free him.”  
“Dean’s in there with Lucifer.”  
That seemed to make her pause for a moment. Sam was sure that it wouldn’t be a long moment though, going by how quickly her expression hardened again.  
“It’s his choice. Let him rot down there with his boyfriend!”  
Sam was shocked at that.   
“Jo, you can’t mean that. Dean’s like a brother to you!”  
“He was. Until he decided that he liked the devil’s side better than ours.”  
It was hard for Sam to see her talk about Dean like he had died. Dean wasn’t different than he had been before. Things around them had changed and the stories they had known weren’t what had really happened.   
“Just listen to me for a moment. Dean needs our help. He hasn’t gone dark side and he’s no bad guy. Just give us a chance to prove it to you.”  
“I’m not falling for that!”  
Jo pulled out her knife and Sam only took the glint from the knife to know that he couldn’t dodge that. He would get that kife to the shoulder if he dodged fast and hopefully Cas would manage to heal him before…  
His thoughts paused as the knife hit the floor. It had slipped right out of Jo’s hand. Sam had no idea what just happened to make Jo drop the knife she clearly had been aiming at him. He would’ve assumed that Cas had saved him if it hadn’t been for Cas standing behind him.   
His surprise reached new heights when he was suddenly pulled into a kiss by Jo. He pushed her back with more force than necessary.   
“What the-“  
Before he could ask what happened he was pushed aside, hitting the next wall. Thankfully he was used to being thrown into walls so he was up pretty soon, only to have Jo on him again.   
“What the fuck? Let go of me!”  
“You’re just too cute to let go.”  
“You tried to kill me a moment ago!”  
“Am I not allowed to change my mind?”  
“You’re like a sister to me!”  
Sam pushed away from her and spotted Cas pinning a seemingly invisible body to the wall. He let Jo cling to him for a moment so he would be able to find out what was going on. As he stepped closer the body became visible and a man appeared, a strangely familiar one.  
“Amor!”  
The cerub turned to Sam with a dissatisfied expression.   
“I knew I missed you. Come here, let me give you some love.”  
That sentence alone nearly made Sam run out of the room.  
“So you did this to Jo!”  
“Heaven’s orders, my dear. Michael wants a new line of vessels and mixing the Harvelle line with the Winchester-Campbell line is not as good as you and your brother were but it will be enough.”  
Even though Sam knew very well that punching an angel would mostly hurt him he couldn’t resist doing it in this case. Luckily Cas supprted him. Together the cherub felt it and flinched. It was probably mostly Cas’s punch though but Sam could at least pretend that he had gotten a reaction too.   
“Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve got enough! You can pack up with your heaven shit because I’m definitely not up for being forced into romance with a girl who’s like a sister to me!”  
The Cherub had the gall to look scandalized that Sam didn’t want to be forced into loving soeone he didn’t love in that way. Cas seemed just as angry as him.   
“Reverse it.”  
“What?”  
“I said reverse it.”  
Cas was ready to throw another punch but the Cherubim weren’t exactly known for their bravery and the angel even flinched before Cas even really moved his arm.  
“I cannot do that.”  
Sam paled at that and Cas tightened his grip.  
“What do you mean by that?”  
“I am unable to reverse it. Once I give love I cannot take it back and it has never happened before that people ask for it to be taken back. Sorry, lovelies, I cannot help you.”  
“Fuck…”  
Both Sam and Cas looked at Jo who was clinging to Sam’s free arm, looking up at Sam in a way that eally creeped him out.   
“If you really want to break it then you need to do it. I can only give them love but theavenly given love is as close to natural as possible.”  
Castiel looked confused at that.  
“What does he mean?”  
Sam had understood. He looked down at Jo with a pained expression.   
“I have to make her hate me again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm late and I know it. I'm sorry about that but I promise you I will never abandon this Fic.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who waited patiently and is still reading this! I'm so happy about the comments and kudos I've received!


	7. The Cagelife

The fights on the surface were going on. One side was trying to free Dean and Lucifer, the other tried to keep them from doing it. Had Dean known about the dilemma his brother was facing he would probably curse loud enough that Michael would still hear it in heaven, hoping that it would be echoing through his thick feathered skull.   
Dean was sitting in the cage though. It wasn’t a five star place. Didn’t even deserve one fucking star. If reviewers could give negative stars that fucking cage would get a fuck ton of negative stars.   
“It is meant as a prison, Dean. Of course it will be no luxury estate.”  
“Dude, I’ve seen american prisons from and they at least had a bed and more than one room and american prisons are fucking awful.”  
“Then you can get an idea of how hated I am by heaven.”  
This conversation had been happening at the beginning, and the ten year mark, and then repeated itself every ten years.   
“How long have we been in here anyway?”  
“Today marks 650 years.”  
“Happy anniversary!”  
The sarcasm from Dean was abundantly clear. He was glad that he had Lucifer with him or he would probably go crazy, if he wasn’t already. That was the question. He had no idea how Lucifer had spent such an incredibly long time all on his own in here. Then again, angels were probably made to deal with long stretches of time. Dean had enough problems dealing with the additional 40 years to his life. Now he had to deal with going several times over his lifespan and Lucifer having to…  
A kiss brought him out of his thoughts and he looks up at Lucifer. Had someone told him before all this happened that it would be the devil keeping him sane in a dark prison then he would have drowned them in holy water. Dean was the one to break the kiss.  
“You’re sure it’s only been a bit over 5 years upstairs?”  
“If my estimation is correct then yes.”  
“By how many years could you be off?”  
“About 645.”  
“Awesome.”  
Lucifer chuckled and sat down next to Dean.   
“Why do you continue asking?”  
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s like in the movies where you just need to say something enough and someone turns up and does something.”  
They really needed to get out because Dean felt like he was starting to repeat himself. Not that they didn’t have anything to talk about and Lucifer didn’t seem to mind but it was driving Dean crazy because he felt like a broken record. Or someone with memory loss. The difference was that he remembered it and he still continued asking.   
Lucifer being here with him was keeping him stable at the moment. Not only stable but Lucifer was doing way more than that. Without him Dean wouldn’t have made it more than the first 20 years.  
“You don’t look good.”  
“You are imagining that.”  
“I’m not and you’re just denying it because you don’t want me to worry. After 650 years I know you better than that.”  
It had all started a few years after they had fallen into the cage. Dean had asked Lucifer about some dark spots that had appeared on his skin. He hadn’t thought much of it but Lucifer had been shocked.   
The thing was, the cage was meant to keep an archangel in. Such a being had a lot of power and to keep him from focusing them or using them to fuck with the cage it had a kind of power-deteriorating attribute. Or something along the lines of that. Lucifer had tried to explain it to Dean but quite honestly, Dean hadn’t really been able to follow when it came into power science. It was fascinating enough that there even was a certain science to angel magic.   
Anyway, Lucifer had forgotten about that because it was a minimal strain on his grace until Dean started to get hallucinations about fire and started hurting everywhere. The thing was, what was only a way to keep Lucifer in was strong enough to start eating at a human soul. According to Lucifer if he didn’t start using his powers to protect him his soul would have dissolved somewhere around the 60 year mark.   
“You didn’t tell me that it’d put that much of a strain on you.”  
“And what would that have changed?”  
“I wouldn’t have let you-“  
“Do you really think that I would have let you meet your final demise? Dean, a dissolved soul will not come back. It will not go to heaven or hell. It will be gone.”  
“But I’m hurting you. I can’t go on doing that.”  
“I will not let you dissolve!”  
“What if Sammy gets us out before that?”  
“Are you really implying to gamble with your very soul in the hope that Sam will come before you dissolve? I cannot believe you, Dean. I would not gamble with your life.”  
“You’d do it with your own though, to save me. You’re doing it now. Don’t you think there’s a reason our friends say we’re pretty similar?”  
Lucifer laughed at that and they got lost in kisses for a while. Dean almost found it funny. He had seen couples that didn’t even make it one lifetime while he and Lucifer were doing pretty well in their seventh lifetime. It was still incredible to think about that he should be dead several times over.   
“We have to stop this.”  
Dean knew that Lucifer wasn’t only doing this because he enjoyed it but also because he wanted to distract Dean from what they had been talking about. He wouldn’t let Lucifer get away with that. They had to talk about this because Lucifer really wasn’t looking good from all the power he has been focusing on constantly keeping Dean protected. He had been doing it for far too long already. If Lucifer seriously got hurt because of him he wouldn’t forgive himself.   
“If you have a better idea then I will stop. Until then I will make sure that your soul will remain undamaged.”  
“Fine.”  
As unreasonable as it was, Dean was sulking. He needed to have an idea and have an idea soon. It wasn’t something he could take his time with. Lucifer was giving everything to keep him save and he couldn’t let him do that any longer.   
Lucifer was sitting silently next to him now, giving him quiet time to think about a solution because he definitely knew that Dean was thinking about it. He also knew that Dean wouldn’t speak again until he had an idea, which could mean silence for several days. Dean was just as stubborn as Lucifer and that was something both had long since learned to deal with.   
While Lucifer was very obviously watching him Dean was thinking about different possibilities. He knew quite a few protection spells. The problem was that they wouldn’t find any of the ingredients in the cage. Maybe if he tried to break out of the cage. It was designed for an archangel, after all.  
“We talked about this.”  
“Could you stop reading my thoughts?”  
“You know I do not need to.”  
Damn, Lucifer had a point. With both, actually. They had talked about Dean trying to get out and get help but the failsafe would either kill Dean on the way out or kill Lucifer inside it. Not a good idea, not a good idea at all. That was one of the moments Dean wished Sam was here. Sam would have 500 ideas and instantly pick out 10 that would actually work. He would talk Lucifer down because Sam wasn’t as similar to Lucifer as Dean and…  
“Sam!”  
In any other situation he would have been proud of himself for being able to startle Lucifer but something just hit him.   
“I think I’ve got an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I left you all hanging for so long!
> 
> I had a lot of things to deal with (college and personal) but I'll be back now, I promise.
> 
> To all the people still reading my stuff a giant thank you! I appreciate you all.
> 
> I also took the time to work over the last few chapters. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!


	8. Conference

Burned wingmarks appeared on the concrete when Beelzebub finally managed to kill the angel. Charlie was still staring at the spot where the angels had fought. She could honestly say that she had never seen something like this before and it shocked her like nothing ever had before. Their mission to free Dean and Lucifer just continued to get more and more dangerous.   
“That… I mean…”  
Okay, it was definitely too early to try to speak. It was hard to believe that all of this started with a riddle on the internet that she had wanted to solve. Now she was standing there, looking at a dead angel with a fallen angel next to her. No wonder she was wondering what kind of clusterfuck her life had become.   
“We need to call the others.”  
Charlie just nodded at Beelzebub’s words. This had just gone from great fun to really serious stuff. And now she was learning that Beelzebub knew how to make a conference call. Soon enough they were talking to the others who are out for ingredients.   
“How is your search going?”  
A dry laugh from Sam sounded through the phone.   
“You’ve got no idea what just happened.”  
“Well, I just had to kill a former sibling. I do not think you can surprise me here.”  
“What if I told you that we’d run into a cupid and he tried to couple me and Jo to create a new line of vessels?”  
“Okay, you won. I am officially surprised. And angry. What is Michael thinking? To abuse cupids to try and force a restart of the apocalypse. Heaven was never afraid of underhanded tactics but that is indeed a new low.”  
Despite not entirely understanding what they were saying Charlie already dreaded meeting Michael and any more of heaven’s angels. She really understood now why Sam and his brother teamed up with the fallen angels in this case. It was kind of ironic that they were the ones trying to stop the apocalypse from happening while heaven tried to start it again.   
“Yeah, I didn’t expect it either. First she wanted to kill me and then she just started clinging to me and-“  
“It was an awful scene. The cupid told us that there is no way to reverse it because the heavenly destined love works like natural love. Do you know a way to reverse it?”  
All of the fallen angels and Sam seemed to hold Beelzebub in high regard and Charlie could definitely see why. What made her think though was just how much Lucifer could do if someone as skilled as Beelzebub was his second in command.   
“I am sorry, Cas, but he is right. There is no way to reverse. You would have to either put her under a spell, which is easily broken, or you have to make sure that she does not love you anymore.”  
Charlie almost didn’t believe what she was hearing.   
“How are they going to do that? They’re not cupids.”  
Beelzebub sighed a bit. He didn’t like it either. Love wasn’t something he would ever dare meddle with. Heaven started it though and he would make sure that their plan fails.   
“Even love can wither away. It can be left to itself, or it can be broken. I suggest, Sam, that you leave.”  
“No! He can’t just leave her!”  
“Charlie, would you rather he break her heart intentionally?”  
“No but can’t he just do something else?”  
“Well, someone new might help her heal but she will still be hurt.”  
“Then he should find her someone new.”  
“We do not have the time. Heaven is trying to create a new apocalypse and we need Lucifer and Dean back.”  
“Beelzebub, is there something you aren’t telling us?”  
Going by the flinch from Beelzebub Charlie was willing to say that she guessed right.   
“Something occurred to me when I fought the one who attacked us.”  
Beelzebub wasn’t someone for outright showing strong emotions but he usually had a certain calm in his tone. It concerned Charlie that it was missing right in that moment. It was Sam who finally dared to ask.  
“What?”  
“If the cage works similar to the seals we were imprisoned in-“  
“Then Dean is in danger.”  
Moloch, who had until now let the others talk since he and Mammon had no problems with their ingredients, finished the sentence. A noise came through the phone, probably from Sam.   
“What do you mean?”  
It was silent while the fallen angels all hesitated to reply. Beelzebub finally managed to bring himself to say it.   
“Grace is a self-producing energy source. Angels can gather more and release more. Which means if the grace is not in some way strained an angel can focus and break out of a seal. That is why the seals were designed to strain the grace, not enough to harm us but enough for any permanent damage. A soul does not have the same recovery properties.”  
A moment of silence passed. No one talked, Charlie didn’t even hear anyone move.   
“Will Dean even still be there?”  
It’s quiet and Charlie wanted to hug Sam through the phone when the question came. His voice was so broken, so full of panic.   
“Lucifer would not let him die.”  
“Can Lucifer keep it up?”  
“Yes, but it will strain him more, since he is using grace and unable to recover enough.”  
“How high are the chances that the cage works like the seals?”  
“The chances of it not working in the same way are slim to none. “  
“So we have to watch the failsafe and the time pressure of the cage threatening to kill them both before we get them out?”  
“That sums it up pretty well.”  
“Shit.”  
Now everything had become even more difficult. Charlie really felt for Sam in that moment. It had taken them far too long to realize just how dire the situation might really was.   
“Well, then we’re just going to have to speed things up. We are not giving up just because things have become difficult. Lucifer would be disappointed to see us doubtful like that. He was always trying against the odds.”  
Charlie was really glad that Moloch knew what to say in that moment. Not even Beelzebub had expected these words from him and that proud brotherly smile on his face told her just how proud Beelzebub was of Moloch.   
“Dean would definitely kick our ass for letting this get us down like that.”  
Now Sam had joined in and one by one the mood was lifting again. They might be facing more trouble than they first expected but they would manage.   
“I’m sure they know that you’ll get them. They’re just waiting for you to finally get off your asses. I really don’t think they’d doubt you.”  
“If I did not know better I would assume you know them, Charlie. That was very accurate.”  
“Thanks, Bel.”  
“Bel! I like that. Finally you have a nickname too. “  
“Oh shut up, Molly.”  
The resulting indignant cursing from Moloch made them all laugh and finally the tension in them from their new information lifted.   
“Let us move on then. We still have a lot to do.”  
“Not us, Bel. We already have our ingredients. We need something new to do.”  
“Alright then, Molly. You and Mammon search for a way through Hell that we can take without armies of demons ambushing us.”  
“You can count on us.”  
“I will hear from you all later then.”  
Beelzebub hung up the phone and him and Charlie went back to his car.   
“You’re a great team.”  
“Thank you. We are a family, after all.”  
“How did you all get so close?”  
“Well, it all began in heaven…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say sorry again to all of you for the long break. I know I wanted to update more often but a lot of stuff got in the way.  
> Anyway, to all of you still reading a big thank you for staying with this work for so long even though I haven't updated.


	9. To Build A Family

The young angels stood on the beach. Young, in this case, was relative. They were still a few millennia old, they looked like adults, and yet when they were first allowed on earth they felt like they hadn’t seen anything yet. Beelzebub couldn’t see why they had to be in heaven all the time when earth seemed so far more interesting. Nowhere in heaven’s clean white boredom was something like this. And yet they weren’t even allowed to explore.   
They were divided in groups between the archangels. Well, three of them. For some reason their father had decided that Lucifer wasn’t ready for his own group of students. Beelzebub was with several others assigned to Michael. It was, in all honesty, boring. Beelzebub had stopped listening about the glory of their father for creating this world instead of letting them explore that glory on their own.   
This world was interesting and not even having the exact number of sandcorns in his head from the moment he had been created had made seeing them form dunes and little waves under the current of the water less interesting. Beelzebub glanced for a moment at Michael and took a step into the water of the ocean. He sighed a bit. The feeling was nothing like he ever had experienced before. If only he could see more of this beautiful creation.  
“Mammon!”  
Beelzebub startled and jumped out of the water. The shout from Michael was loud enough that every single group paused, along with Lucifer, whose only job it was to make sure none of them strayed too far from their groups.  
“What do you think you are doing?”  
“I found some mussels. They are so beautiful.”  
“That does not mean you are allowed to take them! It is greedy to look at these and want them for yourself. You are a disgrace. These mussels are for all the beings. I will not take you with me any longer! I cannot believe that-“  
“Michael!”  
The shout came from Lucifer, who was approaching now and who looked really angry. Beelzebub was sure he had never seen another angel that angry. Not even Michael, who already looked like Mammon had just told him their father was not one of glory. Mammon looked very small in that moment. His initial excitement of the mussels was gone as he was in that moment only afraid of the impending punishment.   
“Step back and calm down! How can you fault Mammon for appreciating father’s work? They are part of his natural cycle. There will be more of them. It does no harm if he keeps a few.”  
“Lucifer, are you out of your mind? It defies the purpose of the creation for us to take away from it. It is greedy, it is in no way the behaviour father intended for us.”  
“He is showing his appreciation for it! Mammon likes those mussels. They are beautiful to him. Would you stop making his love for the creation into a bad thing?”  
“This is why you are not allowed to teach. You should not encourage this behaviour! He can very well appreciate the mussels without taking them away from nature.”  
“Because nature would mind so much about a few mussels less. Why would he not collect them? He could how them to the others, he could study them and understand more about the creation. Let him he passionate!”  
“Passion is reserved for who father chooses it for. We are not supposed to be passionate. Passion leads to favourites and we are supposed to appreciate all of the creation the same.”  
The shouting match between the two archangels became louder and louder. Gabriel, who was a bit off to the side with his group, looked troubled but seemed to decide not to intervene. Raphael had no such reservation. He approached.  
“Lucifer, do not go against father’s word! I cannot fathom how you ever got the idea that you could decide what is wrong and what is right instead of our father.”  
“But Lucifer is right!”  
The three archangels looked at him after Beelzebub’s outburst. It was uncomfortable to have all of this attention on him. Especially since Michael’s gaze soon went lower and it occurred Beelzebub that he had been caught.   
“You have nothing to say in this matter. You follow the orders given to you and nothing more. And now leave the water and go back to your group. I will not tolerate another one of you disobeying and altering something.”  
Beelzebub honestly had no idea what came over him. Even later he would not be able to explain it but in that moment he reached into the water and splashed it at Michael. It was harmless and Beelzebub could clearly see the surprised and proud amusement on Lucifer’s face. Michael, on the other hand, became as red as an angel could become. He started moving towards Beelzebub when Lucifer reacted quickly and shoved him, sending him falling right into the water.   
“Do not dare let your wrath get the better of you, Michael. You call others a disgrace yet you will not one of them feel the joy they feel at this creation.”  
“He disrespected me! And now you did too!”  
“You know, Michael, for someone who talks about not falling for passion you are very passionate about being respected. So passionate, after all, that you would punish an angel for something that was fun.”  
Michael got up and glared at Lucifer. He pulled seaweed from his shoulder.   
“You will never live up to father’s standards of you, Lucifer, if you do not change. You will never understand discipline.”  
With that the archangel was gone, leaving Beelzebub and Mammon behind while taking the rest of the group with him. A blue eyed angel looked back at them, almost as if he wanted to join them rather than stay with Michael but in the end there was no choice for him. 

“Wait a moment. Are you saying that angel might’ve been Cas?”  
Beelzebub chuckled and nodded, heading towards their route again, now that they had checked in on the others. The music started again too but Charlie turned it lower because she was way more interested in the story that Beelzebub was telling.  
“I am quite sure it was him. I was more focused on Lucifer in that moment though.”

Lucifer, who was looking at the spot where Michael had been a moment ago, completely ignoring the glare Raphael sent him. Beelzebub had no idea what to do now that he had silently been thrown out of the group together with Mammon. He didn’t regret being thrown out of Michael’s group but it also meant that he was now without a teacher and would probably not be allowed on earth on his own. Beelzebub stepped out of the water and towards Lucifer.   
“Would you be so kind and teach me?”  
It took a lot of courage to speak so openly to an archangel but Lucifer had protected him. He had stood up for them when Michael would have punished them. Lucifer looked at him and Beelzebub was about to apologize because he should not deserve a second chance, not in the eyes of the other. However, Lucifer smiled at him.  
“Of course. You and Mammon will be my students.”  
Mammon, who seemed to have heard that smiled too and walked up to Lucifer.   
“May I keep the mussels?”  
“Yes, Mammon, you may keep your mussels.”  
So it came to be that Lucifer gained two students. Beelzebub was proud to be the first and though it had taken a lot of arguing between Lucifer and the others, as Lucifer told him later, they stuck together.   
Moloch joined them very soon after it. Raphael had refused to teach him any longer because he was play-fighting outside of training sessions. For Raphael it was a sign of aggression that he was enjoying the fights, and a sign of pride that he cheered when he won. Another disgraceful angel who then came to them and asked if Lucifer would take him too. Their father was constantly sending other angels to check up on their group because Lucifer didn’t seem to teach them according to their rules.   
Belial was a special case because Lucifer found him, alone, on the edge of heaven. Beelzebub had only heard that story after Lucifer had brought him into their group. Belial had sat there alone and sad. He had talked to another student and enjoyed it. When he told that other angel, that sibling of his, that he enjoyed talking with him the reply was that they enjoyed talking to all of their siblings. That had been the first time Belial doubted the ‘love’ they spoke of in heaven. It shook him to his core that it was nothing but words.   
Every time he wanted to hear from someone that they genuinely liked him it was just ‘I love you like our other siblings’ or ‘I enjoy your presence like I enjoy the presence of our other siblings’. It had always made him feel like he was just one of many, that there was nothing unique about him. When Lucifer approached him he had been cautiously optimistic.   
Beelzebub watched as Lucifer came to them with Belial by his side. He seemed so shy and so sad. Moloch had come back with an angel blade.   
“Are you playing with your blade again?”  
Lucifer was just teasing him and Moloch chuckled.  
“He will one day be one of the best fighters in the garrison. To have such a passion is something really unique. A passionate person will always win against a dispassionate one.”  
Moloch stopped what he was doing and grinned at Belial.  
“You know what? That is going to be my motto from now on. I like you already.”  
Beelzebub liked to think that was the moment when Belial fell for Moloch. At the very least it was the start of a deep friendship that would grow into more.   
More and more angels went to Lucifer instead of the others. Beelzebub expected the blue eyed angel among them but he never saw him. As their numbers grew the other archangels became more and more angry at Lucifer. They took the matter to their father, who just told Lucifer that he should divide the angels he was with between the others because he wasn’t allowed to teach them. Lucifer refused. His father became angry.   
All this time Lucifer had looked up to his father and had believed that he was perfect, just like his brothers. The more he saw how his father acted, the more he saw what impact those rules had on the angels, the less he saw in his father what the others saw. When his father threatened to rip their group apart it was the final straw for Lucifer. He would not let himself be forced to to send all those angels away. He wanted to be free to do what he wanted!  
Lucifer walked away from the conversation. His father had given him an ultimatum. Either his group of angels would disband or he would forcefully separate them. The angels were shocked when he told them.   
“And I tell you, I cannot stand behind father’s actions anymore. I cannot let him be the dictator of our lives. For all the good he has done does not justify his behaviour.”  
Beelzebub stepped up to him.  
“What are you suggesting?”  
“I am suggesting a rebellion.”  
“This is crazy.”  
“Well, brother, is insanity not a kind of freedom?”  
A moment of silence passed and then suddenly Beelzebub punched Lucifer. The angels around them gasped and in his surprise Lucifer fell back. Beelzebub huffed and held out his hand.  
“Then lead us. Lead us into freedom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I use the end of the last chapter to get in some angel backstories? Maybe  
> Is it a bit chliché? Maybe  
> Did I enjoy writing it? Definitely
> 
> Thank you all for reading this!


	10. Gathering

„But you all were so motivated. What happened?”  
Beelzebub sped up his car more, taking a curve a bit faster than usual. He had no problems keeping it under control but it still showed Charlie that it was a sensitive topic.  
“Father happened. To this day I am sure that had father not intervened we would have won this war. We were forced to choose between surrender and being banished, so we ended up in Hell.”  
“That’s pretty brave.”  
“You think so?”  
“Definitely. I mean, it would’ve made everything so incredibly easy to give up. Instead you stood by what you believe in. That’s pretty brave.”  
The smile she received from Beelzebub in turn made telling him that worth it. Charlie didn’t know why but Beelzebub started feeling more and more like a big brother to her. He took such good care of the other fallen angels, he made sure that they stay together and that they were safe.   
“The angels at your HQ, is that all of them?”  
She regretted that question immediately because the light mood was gone as soon as she finished it.   
“No, not at all. In the war a lot of them were killed. I think that was the most painful part, being killed by those you once considered family. Others have vanished. I will not lose hope that some are somewhere out there and just did not end up in Hell with us. Maybe we will find some as time goes by.”  
“You know, some authors of the past wrote about fallen angels becoming gods in pagan faiths. Who knows, maybe they did? Maybe you’ll find them.”  
“I hope so.”  
That talk alone had given Charlie so much stuff to think about and it had made her even more excited to meet Dean. Without him Charlie wouldn’t be sitting here in this car with Beelzebub and talking to him about so much stuff that she had never thought about before. It was strange how much can happen through such simple things as love.  
Well, granted, she was thinking of love in general because she just couldn’t imagine someone loving the devil being simple. She would love to one day see Dean tell some fundamentalist that story. It would cause quite a few heads to explode. Charlie chuckled to herself.   
“What are you thinking about?”  
“Sam’s brother telling some fundamentalist about his relationship with Lucifer and exploding heads.”  
“That sounds hilarious.”  
Charlie was glad that she made Beelzebub laugh after that hard of a talk. They were driving further along the road now. She was sure that there would be others trying to stop them too though. They needed to be prepared for when that happened.   
“You know, I think you and Dean will get along really well when he is back.”  
“You think so?”  
“I am quite sure, actually. Dean the kind of person you never get bored with. I saw so many similarities between him and Lucifer.”  
Charlie thought about it for a moment before she spoke up again.   
“How did you guys even meet Dean? Sam said something about time travel.”  
“Time travel is accurate. Dean told us later that a fight between angels had thrown him back in time. We were very confused back then. Humans had not been created yet and Lucifer was speaking to us when this new being suddenly appeared not far from us. We had no idea what a human was at that time.”  
“That scene must’ve been a hilarious scene.”  
“In hindsight it was but at the time we were nervous.”  
“Nervous?”  
“Image seeing a being similar to you but different which you have never seen before. Almost like the aliens in the Star Trek Series.”  
Beelzebub’s knowledge about pop culture really impressed Charlie. She had to take Beelzebub to one of the events she liked to go to. Maybe she could get costumes for all the fallen angels and Sam. She could so totally imagine Beelzebub in armour. The fallen angel had probably worn armour back then.  
“So you were worried about what Dean might be.”  
“Yes. God might have made sure to send another being to get rid of us for good. Instead Dean brought us new hope.”  
“Tell me more.”  
“Did he already tell you about the drama?”  
Charlie screamed as suddenly someone else was in the car. The thing was, that sportscar only had two seats. That meant the newcomer was sitting right there on Charlie’s lap. Beelzebub was remarkably unimpressed and Charlie was a bit envious of that.   
“Look, I always enjoy hot ladies in my lap but how the fuck-“  
“What are you doing here, Meg?”  
“Bringing some news and listening to the compelling story Deano never bothered to tell me.”  
“Just tell me the news. If Dean did not care to tell you why would I?”  
“He just didn’t have the time. Do you really think our dear stepdaddy would just keep the story of how he met father to us?”  
Charlie looked between the woman, who was apparently named Meg, and Beelzebub. This conversation right now was going way over her head and she didn’t appreciate that.   
“Stepdaddy?”  
The sigh she received from Beelzebub in turn just showed how much he wants Meg gone.   
“Of course. You see, Lucifer made us demons, Deano fucks Lucifer, so Deano is officially the stepdaddy of all demons.”  
“I’ve got a demon on my lap?”  
“You’re hanging out with falling angels and you’re surprised that you’re meeting a demon?”  
“Nope, I’m expecting a lot of stuff right now. I just didn’t expect a demon right on my lap.”  
“Not my fault that Belly doesn’t buy cars with more than two seats.”  
“I swear, Meg, if you had not helped free Lucifer the first time I would test my car’s tires on your face now.”  
Meg seemed to get the message that Beelzebub was not in the mood for her games.   
“Okay, I get it. I’ve got good news for you and bad news.”  
“Just tell me what you have.”  
“Crowley is planning on working with heaven to stop you. Seems like he likes his position as King of Hell too much.”  
“That sounds more like a mild annoyance than an actual threat.”  
“Shouldn’t you check up on Hell?”  
“To see what you demons did to it? No. At the very least not until Lucifer and Dean are back.”  
“Just be careful. Not everyone is a good demon like me.”  
“That does not change that you are a demon.”  
“Don’t believe the stereotype. We can be quite charming. I’ve got good news too. There are a lot more demons willing to help than you thought. If you give me an order for them you might get this done way faster.”  
“How did you even find out what we are doing?”  
“Demons talk a lot. About everything. You wouldn’t believe the uproar in Hell when they found out that a Winchester was on our side. That the Winchester we though heaven would get was actually really, really close to Lucifer.”  
“I’m gonna need a lot of explaining once she’s off my lap.”  
“I will tell you the story. Meg, I will send you the list of ingredients so you will be able to help. Now leave us alone.”  
“But I wanted to hear the whole story!”  
“Leave.”  
Charlie could be wrong but she was pretty sure Meg was pouting as she vanished. Well, things were just getting stranger and stranger for her.   
“It seems it will get more complicated from now on.”  
“You bet. Think Meg’s trustworthy?”  
“She is a big fan of Lucifer. I am more worried about Gabriel getting involved again.”  
“Gabriel? You mean another archangel. And he’s getting involved again? Just how much happened that I’ve got no idea of?”  
“Well, Charlie, you missed a whole aborted apocalypse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear there will be more action soon. I just want to introduce Charlie a bit more to what's going on. 
> 
> As always thank you to all of you who are reading, leaving kudos, and commenting! I appreciate it!


	11. Return

With the help of the demons it was very easy to get together what they needed. Sam would say it was more quick than easy though because there were a lot of demon causalities. Anyway, they were back at the fallen angel HQ now. They all called the building that now. To Sam’s defence, it hadn’t been his idea. Mammon had even started calling it FAHQ, pronouncing it like, well, fuck. It was honestly hilarious.   
The mood was more charged now though. They were gathered around the ingredients. Beelzebub held the Book of the Damned in his hand, Charlie’s decoding notes sticking out of it. Beelzebub was about to start with the ritual when the ground started shaking.   
“I have the feeling that we have some visitors.”  
It was quite the understatement. When Moloch checked the windows they had angels gathered all around the building.   
“You’re right. There are at least 50 angels around this building.”  
Moloch’s words made all of them flinch and the fallen angels drew their swords. Sam looked at Charlie and then at the fallen angels.   
“We need to get this ritual through without interruption. We’ve got to split up.”  
Nobody liked it but the fallen angels decided to defend while Sam and Charlie were in the middle, trying to do the ritual. They had to concentrate. One mispronounced word could bring the worst of consequences. Meg and her demons joined the wall between them and the approaching angels. The tension was tight in the air and as the walls started shaking Sam and Charlie began preparing the ritual.  
Beelzebub was at the front of the fallen angels and the demons. Sam would always be completely sure that if Lucifer had not led the rebellion then Beelzebub would have.   
“Let’s get started.”  
Sam nodded and they put the ingredients together in the special bowl out of a material that he had already forgotten the name of because he hadn’t even been able to pronounce it. Charlie’s hands were shaking as she held the Book of the Damned. Not only the angels about to attack made her nervous but also the fact that Lucifer and Dean’s lives depended on her in that moment. That was a damn big load of pressure. Pair that with the fear of heaven’s wrath raining down on them and Charlie was close to a breakdown.   
She had barely started reciting when the doors burst open and angels stormed in. At the same moment someone else appeared. Charlie didn’t look up, having to stay focused. Sam did though and saw that it was Gabriel. He hadn’t expected that but it was a relief to have an archangel on their side.   
“What are you doing here?”  
“I’m here to help, Beelzebub.”  
“I would suggest you do what you do best and leave, coward.”  
“You should be grateful-“  
“I will be grateful once I do not have to look at you face anymore, you spineless-“  
Sam had enough.  
“Could you two stop arguing? We’ve got far more serious problems. If you want to bash each other’s heads in you can do that after we freed Dean and Lucifer!”  
Beelzebub was not happy about it but he saw Sam’s point.  
“You will not take the lead. You can stay but you listen to me.”  
“…Fine.”  
Sam sighed in relief when Gabriel didn’t argue despite very much seeming to want to object. He turned back to Charlie, who was shaking even more.   
“Focus on me. Just look at me. Noone around us.”  
It was easier said than done when he heard screams and heard bodies hit the floor. Her mind threatened to slip into worry about her new friends that were currently fighting around them. She grit her teeth and pressed on. Focus. Focus!   
Sam was having the same trouble but he tried his hardest not to let it show. In the midst of the ritual he heard A pained sound from Beelzebub but instead of reacting he focused even more on their work.   
Beelzebub spotted Michael behind the enemy angels and glared at him. He had found an alternative vessel.   
“Stand down, Beelzebub. You and your group of traitors will fall, one way or another.”  
“Never. You do not scare me, Michael. You have not scared me for millennia. Ever since we saw you bow down and follow orders instead of defending your brother and defending our choice for freedom. You are weak, Michael, archangel or not.”  
“Why would I defend treason?”  
“You will never understand, will you?”  
Neither of them moved. They were both brilliant tacticians in their own right and both of them knew it was not smart to make the first move. Michael did attack first in the end though. Beelzebub reacted and blades clashed.   
“Lucifer could not defeat me. What makes you think you can?”  
“You only won last time because God intervened.”  
“Father supported us because we were on the right path.”  
“He supported you because he didn’t want to lose his loyal soldiers!”  
Their fight became more heated. Beelzebub held his ground against Michael but he knew that Michael had more power and could keep this up for far longer. He couldn’t win this by fighting fair. Michael must have thought the same thing because he had another angel by his side a moment later.   
“Moloch, I need you here!”  
But Moloch had no time to respond because the earth started shaking. The fighting stopped.   
“We did it!”  
It was Charlie shouting it out while Sam stared at the opening portal that looked exactly like back when Lucifer got out the first time. He pulled Charlie back just in time before the pillar of light shot from it.  
Beelzebub grinned but turned back to Michael, only to find him and his angels gone. They were probably planning to regroup. It would give them breathing time but they couldn’t let their guard down because of it.   
There was no need to call the others to come because all of them stormed towards the portal, hoping to see Lucifer and Dean in good condition. Especially Dean.   
Sam was as much in suspense as them. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the portal. Even Charlie felt the tension between all of them. She bit her lip and watched until two figures appeared where the pillar of light had been. If someone asked her in that moment which one of them was the human and which the fallen archangel, she honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell.  
It became very clear to her though when Sam went over to one of them and hugged him tightly. Dean seemed somewhat hesitant to hug back but did after a moment.   
“Dean! I’ve finally got you back. I’m sorry. You were right. I missed you so much. I know what you meant now. The fallen angels are great and it were such long five years.”  
“Woah, woah, Sammy, slow down here. I missed you too. Now stop it with the chick-flick moment.”  
“You’re not angry anymore?”  
“I’ve been in the cage for close to 700 years. I don’t think anyone would be able to be angry for that long.”  
Charlie smiled at seeing the brothers make up. Lucifer seemed just as happy for them. She turned to the other fallen angels, expecting them to feel the same. Instead they all were starting at them in shock. Charlie frowned. Sam and Dean parted and now it was clearer to her. They weren’t staring at both of the brothers, they were staring at Dean. But why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those of you who are confused why this story switched tenses, here's a short explanation.  
> I usually write in past tense. A while ago a friend of mine suggested to switch to present because it would be easier to read.   
> As you've all seen I've tried but the style just doesn't fit me. I usually can get a chapter done pretty quickly when inspiration hits me but even in those inspired moments I was stuck looking over my document because I didn't like it and it kind of started sucking the fun out of it. I definitely blame my writer's block at least partly on that too (on the new tense, not on my friend! I appreciate advice). Especially since I thought I was a really bad writer for a while because of it. (Your comments helped a lot with that! Also the fact that all my favourite authors write in past tense)
> 
> So yeah, if you preferred the present tense I'm sorry but I can't go on like that. I hope that you will continue to read my stories though!
> 
> And as always thank you for everyone who reads/comments/leaves kudos!


	12. Tension

Mammon was the nearest fallen angel to Charlie, so she leaned over to him and whispered.   
“What are you guys looking at?”  
It was Moloch who managed to answer first though.  
“It is incredibly hard to describe.”  
Charlie was confused. How could they not know how to describe it? She was staring at Dean too, trying to figure it out when Mammon finally managed to speak.   
“Do you remember when you helped me set up my tumblr blog?”  
“What does that have to do with it?”  
“We found that art of fixing broken things with gold, right?”  
“Yeah, it’s pretty beautiful.”  
“That is what we are looking at. Only it is Dean’s soul being held together by Lucifer’s grace.”  
“How did that happen?”  
Beelzebub moved closer to them.  
“The cage works indeed like the seals. It ate at Dean’s soul and Lucifer tried to keep it together with his grace. So if you could see Dean’s soul right now you would see the natural blue light of a soul streaked by the red of Lucifer’s grace. Otherwise Dean would not have come out of the cage.”  
Charlie froze for a moment and she almost strained to see through Dean’s body. Of course she couldn’t but there was some kind of morbid curiosity in her that wanted to see what it was.   
The two brothers hadn’t noticed the staring because they were too busy talking about everything that had happened. Eventually though Dean turned to the rest of the fallen angels and embraces were exchanged.   
“And who’re you?”  
“I’m Charlie.”  
Dean smiled at her.   
“And how did you meet the gang?”  
Sam stepped up to his brother.  
“Charlie is the one who cracked the code in the Book of the Damned.”  
“She must be remarkably intelligent then.”  
Well, Charlie could add ‘getting a compliment from the devil himself’ to ‘things that happened that I never thought would happen’. She was speechless for a moment.   
“You bet!”  
Ah, yes, very intelligent to be sassy to the devil because she couldn’t take a compliment. Not at all embarrassing. She was facing the devil and she was-  
Was the devil laughing?  
Dean was laughing along with Lucifer, not only because of Charlie’s outburst but also because of the panicked expression on her face. Soon enough all of them were laughing and Charlie was laughing right along with them.   
“Okay, let’s clean up here and then we’ll enjoy being up here.”  
“Dean, it will not be that easy.”  
“Yeah, yeah, I know that Michael is still out to get us and restart the apocalypse.”  
Lucifer’s expression told Dean that Michael wasn’t currently what he was worried about. Before he could ask Lucifer what was worrying him so much though Moloch spoke up.  
“We can take at least a few hours of celebration. We managed to finally free you two, after all.”  
“By the way, where’s Gabriel?”  
Sam’s question was met with a surprised sound from Lucifer.  
“Gabriel was here?”  
Beelzebub was fuming. He threw his blade into the next wall with so much force that it ended up sticking in it up to its hilt.   
“Noone cares! That coward should stay lost! I do not want him here! He should not be anywhere near us and keep in whatever hiding spot he chose for himself!  
Dean was taken aback. He had never seen Beelzebub that angry before. Not even back when the fallen angels had first landed in Hell. Beelzebub was the composed leader, the one who calmed the others when they were getting heated. Seeing him that angry felt worse than knowing Michael would come after them.   
“Beelzebub-“  
“I am going for a drive.”  
The room was silent while Beelzebub walked out, visibly tense. It even lasts at least ten minutes after Beelzebub was already gone. Then, finally, Lucifer cleared his throat.  
“We should respect Beelzebub’s wish for some quiet.”  
“Yeah, let’s start cleaning up.”   
Dean agreed with Lucifer. Beelzebub definitely needed time to calm down. He would still ask him what brought that outburst on.   
It took them two hours until the place was back to normal. It took the combined effort of both Moloch and Mammon to finally get Beelzebub’s blade out of the wall. They dented the wall in the process and when it finally slipped out of the wall the two fallen angels ended up on the floor.   
Dean stared at the whole in the wall for a moment. Sam decided that he could not take another tense silence.  
“You know what? I’m gonna get us something to eat. Any orders?”  
Moloch and Mammon immediately were on their feet again and rattled off several things. Charlie just wanted a burger and fries. Even Cas ordered a burger. Lucifer decided that he would take some chicken nuggets. Sam turned to his brother.   
“What about you?”  
“Not hungry.”  
And just like that the tense silence Sam had tried to avoid was there.   
“What?”  
“I said I’m not hungry, Sammy. Want me to write it down?”  
“Since when aren’t you hungry?”  
Dean shrugged. Lucifer decided to step in.   
“Dean, you had enough strain on you. Order something. You need it.”  
“Fine, just bring me my usual, please.”  
Sam nodded but he was soon lost in thought. Charlie caught up to him.   
“Want me to come with you?”  
“Yeah, that’s be nice.”  
“You’re worried, aren’t you?”  
“Wouldn’t you be? Dean usually loves eating. He always eats something, no matter if he’s hungry or not.”  
“I bet it’s just him finally being back up here. Needs some adjustment.”  
“Yeah, probably.”  
It wasn’t entirely convincing to Sam. For others it probably looked stupid. After all, it wasn’t that big of a deal when someone wasn’t hungry. Dean had admitted to him though that it had been close to 700 years in the cage. How could he not be hungry? How was he even alive?   
“And the effect of the cage probably did the rest.”  
“The what?”  
“Oh right, you were talking to Dean when the others explained. Remember how Beelzebub talked about the possible effect of the cage? That’s exactly how it works and apparently Dean’s soul is partly dissolves and broken and Lucifer used his grace to keep him together.”  
Sam got a sinking feeling in his stomach in that moment. The explanation made sense but it also brought on a sense of foreboding. That sounded dangerous, awful, and like Michael would now not try to take Dean as a vessel but kill him.   
“What if it’s gonna affect him?”  
Charlie stopped halfway through getting into Sam’s car.  
“I haven’t thought about that. Lucifer will make sure nothing happens though, right?”  
“Of course. The question is if there are things he’s gonna be unable to prevent.”  
Charlie didn’t know how to react to that. She knew the she should be helping Sam calm down and silencing his worries but she didn’t know how. It was something way out of anything she knew. She had read tons of fanfiction, lots about angels and other creatures with special essence too but none of them compared even closely to reality. They drove the rest of the way in silence and while they tried to be as friendly as possible the guy at the counter still looked at them and asked them if they had a bad day.   
“No, pretty good day, actually. Just worried about the future.”  
“Aren’t we all?”  
They chuckled a bit but it was just a small light moment before they were back to thinking about both Dean and Beelzebub. Sam had taken an extra burger with fries for Beelzebub once he came back. They returned and it was quiet. Beelzebub wasn’t back yet but at least the rest of them were still there. They divided the food between all of them and for a while everything seemed normal. Dean was eating, finishing the whole burger and the fries. Then he announced that he would go take a shower.   
They parted for a while and Sam went to clean up. He had probably overreacted anyway, he thought. But then he picked up the bag with Dean’s food and it was heavier than the rest. The bad feeling in his stomach came back full force and he opened the bag.   
Inside was an untouched piece of pie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you!


	13. Hostage

Sam had to talk to Dean but how the fuck would he get him to open up. When it came to his feelings and to things that might be worrying Dean was as open as a safe at the bottom of the ocean. He threw the trash out and leaned against the house wall.   
“Sam, are you alright?”  
After Dean calmed himself from his damn near heart attack, Sam sighed and turned to Beelzebub.  
“Perfect. How was the drive?”  
“Therapeutic.”  
“What happened between you and Gabriel anyway, that got you so riled up?”  
“Possibly. Will you tell me what has you brooding?”  
“Fine.”  
He didn’t really want to talk about his worry for Dean but his curiosity about the outburst won over. It had been something Sam would have never imagined from someone as calm and collected as Beelzebub.   
“Well, you see. Gabriel was once on our side.”  
“What? Really?”  
Sam knew that his surprise was obvious. He had more expected something along the lines of having faced him in battle.   
“What happened?”  
“It came to the great war. We were fighting alongside each other. Our chances were good in that moment until Gabriel faced Uriel. I do not know what it was about facing him but Gabriel paused and vanished. Just vanished. In the heat of battle when we had needed him most, he vanished.”  
There was a minute of silence. Sam would have found it hard to believe if it had been anyone but Beelzebub telling him that.   
“But why aren’t the others as angry?”  
“They did not see it. I was right next to Gabriel and I was surrounded by enemies after he vanished. I am only standing here next to you now because Belial saved me after Gabriel left us behind like it was nothing. That he simply appeared to ‘help’ brought memories to the surface that I would rather forget.”  
Sam had to admit that he was completely lost for words. Beelzebub’s expression made even clearer how traumatizing it must have been.   
“Could that be why you’re so insistent on taking care of the others?”  
Beelzebub leaned back against the wall and Sam had the feeling that he hadn’t question it before.   
“That is quite possible. I did want to protect them before this occurrence too though. Now would you tell me what occupies your mind?”  
Of course they would get to this. Sam joined Beelzebub in leaning against the wall.   
“I’m worried about Dean. The thing with his soul being broken has got to have some effect on him. Earlier he said he wasn’t hungry and he hasn’t even eaten his pie.”  
“I understand your concern.”  
That sentence was an incredibly big relief to Sam. He didn’t need others telling him that he was paranoid.   
“However, we cannot do much but watch him for now. As long as he is relatively stable we should accept changes. Please tell me immediately about anything you notice. We need to keep track of it since Dean will not do it himself. “  
“True. I’m just worried that Dean is hiding hit until we can’t do anything anymore.”  
“Sam, I am quite honestly not sure if it is possible to do anything right now. Dean’s soul is broken. We could not extract Lucifer’s grace without it completely crumbling.”  
“Now that sounds just perfect.”  
Again silence followed. It wasn’t uncomfortable but both of them were thinking over the situation they were in. Eventually Dean came across them.   
“Founding a boyband over here?”  
They all chuckled. Beelzebub sighed after a moment, looking down.  
“I am sorry that I left so suddenly. I-“  
“Lucifer told me what happened. I get it. You needed time to breathe. Honestly, I would’ve beaten Gabriel’s nose in if I were you”  
Beelzebub seemed relieved. Sam did too. He was worrying about his recent behaviour but that sentence was completely and purely Dean.  
“I still have the desire to do that, even after all these years.”  
“Honestly, I’d help you do it.”  
Sam rolled his eyes, though it was more fond than exasperated. It was so typical for Dean. Also, it was the first time that Sam saw just how protective Dean was of the fallen angels. Because there was no doubt in Sam’s mind that Dean absolutely would try to beat Gabriel’s nose in for Beelzebub.   
“What’s Lucifer doing?”  
“I think Mammon’s showing him all the collections he got in the last five years. I’ve had my turn and now it’s his. By the way, Charlie made him a tumblr blog?”  
Beelzebub laughed.  
“You would not believe his excitement when Charlie revealed that he could not only share his collections with others but also see what other people collect. I think he spent three full days just browsing the collections of others.”  
Dean leaned his head back against the wall with a grin. It was the kind of fond grin Dean always had for family. Sam might have looked that way a few times when he interacted with the fallen angels. Their family was way bigger now than before.  
“Ah, by the way, Sammy, how’s Bobby?”  
“Grumpy as always. At the moment especially because he’s still not happy that I’m with the fallen angels. You should call him and say hi.”  
Nothing could have killed the mood faster. Of course, Bobby was like a father to Dean and it was the feeling of a son coming home with the love of his life, knowing that he wouldn’t approve.  
“I don’t know Sammy. I didn’t go well the last time. I mean, before we fell into the cage I had that big fight with him. I just don’t wanna face him yet. I know he’s gonna talk about how bad Lucifer is. And what if he isn’t gonna forgive me for the apple thing?”  
Sam huffed and smacked Dean’s shoulder.  
“Bobby’s been asking daily how we’re coming along with freeing you. He misses you. Do you really think he’s gonna ruin that just cause you’ve got a different opinion than him?”  
“It’s not that easy. I’ve been the one who caused Adam and Eve to be thrown out of Eden. You can trace back anything negative that happened to me if you want. I’m just not sure Bobby’s ever gonna see that it was worth it.”  
Beelzebub sighed next to them.   
“Sam is right, Dean. Bobby has regularly asked for your wellbeing. I sincerely doubt that he would let this come in between you. If I remember right Bobby has known you two since you were kids. He would not send you away because of this. He must have thought about it too because otherwise he would not have let Sam come with us.”  
“Sam’s hard to stop when he’s got his stubborn head set on something.”  
“Which is proof that you two are brothers.”  
Dean laughed again and shook his head.   
“You two are so annoying, you know that.”  
The grin he got from both of them made Dean roll his eyes.   
“Fine, you win.”  
After he admitted defeat Dean grabbed his phone and dialled the number. He hesitated for a moment but the expectant expressions from Beelzebub and Sam seemed to do the trick. Dean pushed the button and held the phone to his ear. The phone was picked up immediately on the other end.  
“Ah, Dean Winchester. I had hoped that you would call. I am sure Bobby is very relieved to hear your voice too.”  
Dean’s apprehensive expression shifted to anger. He would recognize that voice anywhere, despite only having heard it once at Stull Cemetery.   
“What the fuck have you done with Booby, you son of a bitch?”  
“Now Dean, that is no way to talk to Heaven’s leader.”  
“I don’ give a fuck about your title. Let Bobby go.”  
“Oh, I will, but I have a few conditions.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again a break in between chapters. I'm really sorry that I take so long sometimes. 
> 
> Thank you again for all the kudos and comments and to everyone who reads my stuff!


	14. Confrontation

Beelzebub recognized the voice too.   
“I will go get Lucifer.”  
Michael paused on the other end of the line.  
“I want you to come alone, Dean. If you bring anyone with you I will kill Robert Singer.”  
Even Dean, reckless as he was sometimes, felt like it was a bad idea.  
“What about my brother?”  
“No.”  
Sam grabbed the phone.  
“What about Charlie? She-“  
“Are you fucking crazy? Charlie’s a normal girl! We can’t risk her life like that.”  
“Charlie is incredibly smart. She can help you and she will be the least intimidating to Michael.”  
A deep sigh left Dean.  
“No. I won’t-“  
“Shut up and tell him that I’m coming with you.”  
Both Dean and Sam jumped when Charlie was suddenly next to them. Dean now had Charlie and Sam glaring at him and gave in.  
“Charlie. I’ll take Charlie with me. She’s completely human and not a hunter.”  
“Very well, I will allow her to come with you. But if you bring anyone else you will not be able to save him. You will receive an address now. If you do not arrive there at midnight I will assume that you decided to leave him behind.”  
The line went dead and Dean stared at his phone for a moment.   
“Sam, you need to distract the others.”  
“But Dean-“  
“No, I’m not gonna risk Bobby getting killed because I’m too chicken shit to face off with Michael on my own. I’ll get Bobby back, no matter what it takes.”  
Sam wanted to object but he too was afraid of what Michael might do to Bobby to really stop Dean. He watched as Dean grabbed a sword.   
“What’s that?”  
“The guys made it for me. I think they wanted to show me that I’m part of the family.”  
“That’s pretty cool.”  
Dean grinned at Charlie.  
“Yeah, it is. Now let’s go. We’ve got a grumpy old hunter to save.”  
He grabbed Charlie’s wrist and dragged her along because Sam would not let him go with at least Charlie with him. Sam would also definitely text her for updates. This would end up completely annoying, which wasn’t Charlie’s fault at all. As it turned out, Charlie was a pretty cool person. They could talk about stuff, also some nerdy things that Dean would forever deny he was into.   
They made it there by midnight. Dean pulled out his handcuffs to keep Charlie from following him but was surprised to find that Charlie was out of the car before he had even pulled them out fully.   
“Did you really think I’d fall for that old trick?”  
Yes, Dean definitely liked Charlie.   
“I swear, if you dare get hurt I’m gonna kick your ass.”  
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take care.”  
Dean shook his head and grabbed his sword. He now had to watch out for Charlie too, additionally to trying to save Bobby.   
“Now I know why Sam wanted you with me.”  
“You bet. And you’re definitely not getting rid of me.”  
The singsong tone mixed with the victorious grin made Dean want to put hair dye into her shampoo.   
They walked into the abandoned building and Dean already had his hand on the handle of the sword. It looked empty but Dean was still on guard. Charlie was right by his side and the moment Michael appeared he pushed Charlie behind himself. Michael was in the middle of a group of angels, none of which seemed familiar to him. At their feet was Bobby, tied up and on his knees but at least so far he seemed uninjured. Michael looked at Dean and scrunched up his face like he saw something disgusting.  
“What did Lucifer do to you, Dean Winchester? You are terribly damaged.”  
Dean crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at Michael.  
“Side effect of that awful cage your dear daddy designed. Thanks to Lucifer I still exist, you dickbag.”  
Charlie behind him made a sound and Dean glanced at her, realizing she was trying not to laugh at the absolutely offended look on Michael’s face.   
“It is your own fault. You allied yourself with Lucifer.”  
“Yes, and I still am.”  
“You chose the wrong side. Now it will be your demise.”  
“We’ll see about that.”  
Dean drew the sword he had gotten from the fallen angels. Michael’s eyes were immediately drawn to it.   
“I know this craftsmanship. They really thought that a simple human like you has a place in their midst. It is truly laughable.”  
“We’ll see how long you’re still laughing. I’m gonna make you regret laying a hand on Bobby.”  
Quietly he leaned back to Charlie.   
“This is gonna end up in a fight. Once they attack you try to get Bobby out. Got it?”  
Charlie only nodded quietly.   
“Now Dean, the reason I initially called you here was to convince you to accept your destiny as my vessel but now I will have to cleanse you of Lucifer’s grace first.”  
“Are you too dumb to get that my soul will fucking fall apart if you do that?”  
“I never said that I would share my vessel with your soul.”  
Now Dean felt like the stupid one. Michael was planning to use his vessel but why would he want to deal with a rebellious soul that would try to stop the apocalypse from inside the body Michael was possessing.   
“Now step forward and accept your fate or Robert Singer will die.”  
Dean nodded to Charlie and then stepped close to Michael. He took a moment and then quickly brought up his blade, hitting Michael across the chest. Charlie saw that as her sign to go for Bobby because while Michael stumbled back the angels next to him attacked.   
She dragged Bobby up in the commotion, hoping that Dean would be able to put up a fight. Part of her wanted to stay and help Dean but she had no blade like Dean had. All it would do would make Dean have to worry about her too.   
“What are you doing, red haired lady? We can’t just leave Dean in there on his own.”  
Now the guy was talking. He was glaring up at her like she was personally trying to kill Dean.   
“Look, Bobby, if I’m allowed to call you that, Dean has a sword that can kill angels. We have nothing. From what Sam told me about you, you’re like a dad to them. Do you think Dean is going to be able to focus on the fight if you’re still in here?”  
“Fuck you for making that much sense, girl.”  
Charlie actually chuckled a bit. She finally managed to get Bobby out of the abandoned house. It took another while to reach the car because despite not being outwardly injured, Bobby seemed pretty weak at the moment. They reached Dean’s car and Charlie realized that she didn’t have a key. Maybe she had anything in her pocket to pick the locks with.   
As she searched her eyes widened. She had the key in her pocket. Of course, Dean must have done that while he had leaned back to tell her to get Bobby out.   
“Okay, grumpy old man, get in here.”  
She unlocked the car and shoved Bobby onto the backseat. Then she quickly got in on the driver’s side and drove in front of the door. As soon as she stopped the car she moved over to the passenger seat so Dean could jump in and drive them away as soon as he had made it out.   
Both Charlie and Bobby were staring intensely at the house, hoping that Dean would come out again. Time passed and still nothing. Charlie was about to rush in and try anything to help Dean when the house lit up in a red light, shocking her. A few moments later Dean ran out, bleeding and panting but alive. He shoved his sword at her which she took immediately and then drove off so fast that even Charlie, who had been on the passenger seat with Beelzebub driving, was clinging to her seat.  
“What happened in there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you all so much for the comments, kudos, and for reading it!  
> I appreciate it!


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